494 REVIEWS THE STORY OF A BOTJLDER. 



impress the known facts of the science more clearly and definitely upon 

 his memory, and to expand his field of thought ; and should the book 

 fall into the hands of one unacquainted with the wondrous histories 

 revealed to us by the teachings of G-eology, its agreably- written pages 

 will in all probability add another worker to the ranks of those already 

 engaged in the advancement of this important science. As an 

 example of Mr. Greikie's pleasing and lucid style, we give, entire, the 

 second chapter of his Story of a Boulder ; more especially, as this 

 portion of the boois admits of direct application to Canadian Greology. 



Has the reader, "when wanderiDg up the course of a stream, rod in hand per- 

 haps, ever paused at some huge rounded block of gneiss or granite damming up 

 the channel, and puzzled himself for a moment to conjecture how it could get 

 there ? Or when rolling along in a railway carriage, through some deep cutting 

 of sand, clay, and gravel, did the quesiion ever obtrude itself how such masses 

 of watea'-worn material came into existence ? Did he ever wonder at the odd 

 position of some huge grey boulder, far away among the hills, arrested as it were 

 on the steep slope of a deep glen, or perched on the edge of a precipitous cliff, 

 as though a push with the hand would hm-l it down into the ravine below ? Or 

 did he ever watch the operations of the quarryman, and mark, as each spadeful 

 of soil was removed, how the surface of the rock below was all smoothed, and 

 striated, and grooved ? 



These questions, seemingly simple enough, involve what was wont to be one of 

 the greatest problems of geology, and not many years have elapsed since it was, 

 solved. The whole surface of the country was observed to be thickly covered 

 with a series of clays, gravels, and sands, often abounding in rounded masses of 

 rock of all sizes up to several yards in diameter. These deposits were seen to 

 cover all the harder rocks, and to occur in a very irregular manner, sometimes 

 heaped up into great mounds, and sometimes entirely wanting. They were evi- 

 dently the results of no agency visible now, either on the land or around our coast. 

 They had an appearance rather of tumultuous and violent action, and so it was 

 wisely concluded that they must be traces of the great deluge. The decision had 

 at least this much in its favour, it was thoroughly orthodox, and accordingly 

 received marked approbation, more especially from those who wished well to the 

 young science of geology, but were not altogether sure of its tendencies. But 

 alas! this promising symptom very soon vanished. As observers multiplied, and 

 investigations were carried on in different countries, the truth came out that these 

 clays and gravels were peculiarly a northern formation ; that they did not appear 

 to exist in the south of France, Italy, Asia Minor, Syria, and the contiguous coun- 

 tries. If, then, they originated from the rushing of the diluvian waters, these 

 southern lands must have escaped the catastrophe, and the site of the plains of 

 Eden would have to be sought somewhere between the Alps and the North Pole. 

 This, of course, shocked all previous ideas of topogi'aphy; it was accordingly 

 agreed, at least among more thoughtful men, that with these clays and sands the 

 deluge could have had nothing to do. 



